


Enlisting in the Avengers

by Thewinterboobear



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Drabble, Fanboying, Gen, Nothing angsty, One Shot, Paperwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-21 07:26:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3683310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thewinterboobear/pseuds/Thewinterboobear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky let Steve convince him to join the Avengers. That requires some paperwork with one Agent Coulson who is nothing if not professional.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enlisting in the Avengers

**Author's Note:**

> This work was not reviewed by a peer so feel free to let me know if you see any grammatical errors!

Bucky Barnes sat like a teenager trying to convince his principal that he’s a good kid who doesn’t deserve detention. Agent Phil Coulson sat across the desk from him placing sticky arrows next to lines on a stack of paperwork at least thirty pages deep. He didn’t slow from his task. It was as if he’d set up Avengers contracts hundreds of times before. 

The former assassin still wasn’t sure how he let Steve convince him this was a good idea. Somehow within a half an hour of showing up at Steve’s doorstep the man had set up a display of reasons why they should team back up as part of the Avengers. Bucky had never been more positive of anything in the world that Steve had planned this out since his return. 

“Now, Sgt Barnes, I’ll just need you to read over the paperwork. You need to sign and date next to the green arrows and initial next to the red arrows. One of my agents Skye has already set up a bank account for you and your new debit card will be issued to you along with your badge as you leave.” Agent Coulson pushed the paperwork across the desk and a metal arm reached out to grab the stack while his other hand grabbed a clipboard and pen. He’d become rather ambidextrous while trying to hide his disability. 

The first three pages were fairly straightforward. Orders must be taken from a commanding officer, if you are needed and called to duty you must respond, etc. Bucky filled out his paperwork dutifully only glancing up every once in a while to notice that Phil’s eyes never left him; never blinked. 

The next few pages got a little stranger. The fifth page was an agreement to see a SHIELD psychologist once a week as Steve had warned him. The appointments would become less frequent as the doctor saw appropriate. The sixth page was a background release that asked him to verify information and sign if correct. He gulped a little when he saw the question marks next to ‘Number of Confirmed Deaths (Military, superhero, or otherwise).’ He soldiered on and signed the bottom. The seventh page was where it got really weird.

“What even is this?” Bucky held up the paper, hoping desperately to break the man’s gaze. 

“Well, that’s less SHIELD protocol and more Tony’s protocol. As I’m sure you know a floor in the Avengers tower has been set up for you and you’re free to do whatever legal activities you’d like in there; however, Tony felt there needed to be stricter rules in the common area after certain… incidences arose. I’m sure you understand.” Coulson’s line of sight seemed to shift slightly, as though the man were lost in memory, and a small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. Snapping back, he added, “No SHIELD repercussions will come from breaking these rules. It’s just so that Tony will get some sort of payment to fix up the area if something forbidden were to happen.”

Bucky read the list and his face grew more and more concerned. He was sharing a building with these people? “Number 6, no attempts to take up new forms of weaponry in the common area. Number 9, no eating literally all four boxes of Bruce Banners favorite gummy snacks and then leaving the last empty box in the cabinet with a note attached. Number 14, no use of parkour in the common area. What even is parkour?”

“Oh, it’s a thing that used to be popular. It’s basically finding the quickest and most unique way to get somewhere. Believe it or not I was actually the champion.”

Bucky shrugged and signed the bottom of the page. Perhaps he could get someone to teach him this “Parkour” at some point.

Page 9 asked him for next of kin and emergency contacts. Did he even have a next of kin? Surely his sister had passed at this point but did she have any children of her own? Also, the only emergency contact he would have was Steve but chances are he’d be right in the thick of things with him. 

“You wouldn’t be the first SHIELD member to have to leave that one blank. Just put none and sign the bottom.” Coulson offered. It sure saved Bucky the embarrassment of having to ask.

The rest of the packet was mostly security information and emergency situations and what to do and who to report to. Finally as the pile neared the end he noticed a card tucked under the paperclip between the papers and the final page.

“What even is this?” He pulled it out and saw himself, albeit younger, with a gun in hand and cigarette in his mouth. Bucky sure missed cigarettes. His name was written in gold beneath it along with his enlistment information.

“Oh, that? How embarrassing,” Coulson said, reaching for the card. “That’s just from my Howling Commando collector card set. It’s vintage you know. Well, since you’ve been signing your name so much maybe you wouldn’t mind signing that? After all, I have all the rest signed. You were just assumed dead by the time they released these. It’s mint condition.”

Bucky realized that his mouth was hanging open and closed it quickly, trying to erase the look of confusion from his face. He looked at the card again and began signing, trying to hold back a smile. 

“If you could sign it ‘To Phil’ also that would be great.”

Something about the fact that this man who no doubt read his case file, as an American soldier and the Winter Soldier, still saw him as that man who fought alongside Captain America instead of some monster made him realize that maybe he would like being an Avenger after all.

“Thank you,” Phil said as he grabbed the paperwork. “Now, you’re late for your first debriefing with the team and we will not allow such behavior from the new guy. Get out there.” 

Yeah, he treated him like the good guy and he treated him just like the other guys. Bucky knew he’d like it here a lot.


End file.
